super-Eddington Accretion Flows Research Articles

Radiation and outflow properties of super-Eddington accretion flows around various mass classes of black holes: Dependence on the accretion rates

Abstract We perform axisymmetric two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of super-Eddington accretion flow and outflow around black holes to examine the properties of radiation and outflow as functions of the black hole mass and the accretion rate on to the black hole ($\dot{M}_{\rm BH}$). We find that the $\dot{m}_{\rm BH} ({\equiv} \dot{M}_{\rm BH}c^2 /L_{\rm Edd})$ dependence of $L_{\rm rad}/L_{\rm Edd}$ and $L_{\rm mech}/L_{\rm Edd}$ found for a stellar-mass black hole can apply to the high-mass cases, where $L_{\rm rad}$ is the radiation luminosity, $L_{\rm mech}$ is the mechanical luminosity, c is the speed of light, and $L_{\rm Edd}$ is the Eddington luminosity. Such universalities can appear in the regime in which electron scattering opacity dominates over absorption opacity. Further, the normalized isotropic mechanical luminosity $L_{\rm mech}^{\rm ISO}/L_{\rm Edd}$ (evaluated by normalized density and velocity at $\theta =10^\circ$) exhibits a broken power-law relationship with ${\dot{m}}_{\rm BH}$; $L_{\rm mech}^{\rm ISO}/ L_{\rm Edd} \propto {\dot{m}}_{\rm BH}^{2.7}$ (or $\propto {\dot{m}}_{\rm BH}^{0.7}$) below (above) ${\dot{m}}_{\rm BH}\sim 400$. This is because the radial velocity stays nearly constant (or even decreases) below (above) the break with increase of $\dot{m}_{\rm BH}$. We also find that the luminosity ratio is $L_{\rm mech}/L_{\rm rad}^{\rm ISO} \sim 0.05$ at ${\dot{m}}_{\rm BH} \sim 100$, which is roughly consistent with the observations of NLS1, 1H 0323+103.

Quasi-isotropic UV emission in the ULX NGC 1313 X–1

ABSTRACT A major prediction of most super-Eddington accretion theories is the presence of anisotropic emission from supercritical discs, but the degree of anisotropy and its dependence on energy remain poorly constrained observationally. A key breakthrough allowing to test such predictions was the discovery of high-excitation photoionized nebulae around ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). We present efforts to tackle the degree of anisotropy of the ultraviolet/extreme ultraviolet (UV/EUV) emission in super-Eddington accretion flows by studying the emission-line nebula around the archetypical ULX NGC 1313 X–1. We first take advantage of the extensive wealth of optical/near-UV and X-ray data from Hubble Space Telescope, XMM–Newton, Swift X-ray telescope, and NuSTAR observatories to perform multiband, state-resolved spectroscopy of the source to constrain the spectral energy distribution (SED) along the line of sight. We then compare spatially resolved cloudy predictions using the observed line-of-sight SED with the nebular line ratios to assess whether the nebula ‘sees’ the same SED as observed along the line of sight. We show that to reproduce the line ratios in the surrounding nebula, the photoionizing SED must be a factor of ≈4 dimmer in UV emission than along the line of sight. Such nearly iosotropic UV emission may be attributed to the quasi-spherical emission from the wind photosphere. We also discuss the apparent dichotomy in the observational properties of emission-line nebulae around soft and hard ULXs, and suggest that only differences in mass-transfer rates can account for the EUV/X-ray spectral differences, as opposed to inclination effects. Finally, our multiband spectroscopy suggests that the optical/near-UV emission is not dominated by the companion star.

Magnetic field transport in geometrically thick discs: multidimensional effects on the field strength and inclination angle

ABSTRACT We theoretically investigate the magnetic flux transport in geometrically thick accretion discs which may form around black holes. We utilize a two-dimensional (2D) kinematic mean-field model for poloidal field transport which is governed by both inward advection and outward diffusion of the field. Assuming a steady state, we analytically show that the multidimensional effects prevent the field accumulation towards the centre and reduce the field inclination angle. We also numerically investigate the radial profile of the field strength and the inclination angle for two geometrically thick discs for which (quasi-)analytical solutions exist: radiatively inefficient accretion flows (RIAFs) and super-Eddington accretion flows. We develop a 2D kinematic mean-field code and perform simulations of flux transport to study the multidimensional effects. The numerical simulations are consistent with our analytical prediction. We also discuss a condition for the external field strength that RIAF can be a magnetically arrested disc. This study could be important for understanding the origin of a large-scale magnetic field that drives jets and disc winds around black holes.

Study of Advective Energy Transport in the Inflow and Outflow of Super-Eddington Accretion Flows

Photon trapping is believed to be an important mechanism in super-Eddington accretion, which greatly reduces the radiative efficiency as photons are swallowed by the central black hole before they can escape from the accretion flow. This effect is interpreted as the radial advection of energy in one-dimensional height-integrated models, such as the slim-disk model. However, when multidimensional effects are considered, the conventional understanding may no longer hold. In this paper, we study the advective energy transport in super-Eddington accretion based on a new two-dimensional inflow–outflow solution with radial self-similarity, in which the advective factor is calculated self-consistently by incorporating the calculation of radiative flux instead of being set as an input parameter. We found that radial advection is actually a heating mechanism in the inflow due to compression, and the energy balance in the inflow is maintained by cooling via radiation and vertical (θ-direction) advection, which transports entropy upward to be radiated closer to the surface or carried away by the outflow. As a result, fewer photons are advected inward, and more photons are released from the surface, so that the mean advective factor is smaller and the emergent flux is higher than the fluxes predicted by the slim-disk model. The radiative efficiency of super-Eddington accretion thus should be higher than that of the slim-disk model, which agrees with the results of some recent numerical simulations.

Modeling of Thermal Emission from ULX Pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124 with General Relativistic Radiation MHD Simulations

We perform general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of super-Eddington accretion flows around a neutron star with a dipole magnetic field for modeling the Galactic ultraluminous X-ray source exhibiting X-ray pulsations, Swift J0243.6+6124. Our simulations show the accretion columns near the magnetic poles, the accretion disk outside the magnetosphere, and the outflows from the disk. It is revealed that the effectively optically thick outflows, consistent with the observed thermal emission at ∼107 K, are generated if the mass accretion rate is much higher than the Eddington rate and the magnetospheric radius is smaller than the spherization radius. In order to explain the blackbody radius (∼100–500 km) without contradicting the reported spin period (9.8 s) and spin-up rate (), a mass accretion rate of is required. Since the thermal emission was detected in two observations with of −2.22 × 10−8 s s−1 and −1.75 × 10−8 s s−1 but not in another with , the surface magnetic field strength of the neutron star in Swift J0243.6+6124 is estimated to be between 3 × 1011 G and 4 × 1012 G. From this restricted range of magnetic field strength, the accretion rate would be when the thermal emission appears and when it is not detected. Our results support the hypothesis that the super-Eddington phase in the 2017–2018 giant outburst of Swift J0243.6+6124 is powered by highly super-Eddington accretion flows onto a magnetized neutron star.

Radiative hydrodynamical simulations of super-Eddington accretion flow in tidal disruption event: the accretion flow and wind

ABSTRACT One key question in tidal disruption events theory is how much of the fallback debris can be accreted to the black hole. Based on radiative hydrodynamic simulations, we study this issue for efficiently ‘circularized’ debris accretion flow. We find that for a black hole disrupting a solar-type star, $15{{\, \rm per\, cent}}$ of the debris can be accreted for a 107 M⊙ black hole. While for a 106 M⊙ black hole, the value is $43{{\, \rm per\, cent}}$. We find that wind can be launched in the super-Eddington accretion phase regardless of the black hole mass. The maximum velocity of the wind can reach 0.7c (with c being the speed of light). The kinetic power of wind is well above 1044 erg s−1. The results can be used to study the interaction of wind and the circumnuclear medium around quiescent supermassive black holes.

RAIKOU (来光): A General Relativistic, Multiwavelength Radiative Transfer Code

We present a general relativistic radiative transfer code RAIKOU (来光) for multiwavlength studies of spectra and images including the black hole shadows around Kerr black holes. Important radiative processes in hot plasmas around black holes, i.e., (cyclo-)synchrotron, bremsstrahlung emission/absorption, and Compton/inverse-Compton scattering, are incorporated. The Maxwell–Jüttner and single/broken power-law electron distribution functions are implemented to calculate the radiative transfer via both thermal and nonthermal electrons. Two calculation algorithms are implemented for studies of the images and broadband spectra. An observer-to-emitter ray-tracing algorithm, which inversely solves the radiative transfer equation from the observer screen to emitting plasmas, is suitable for an efficient calculations of the images, e.g., the black hole shadows observed by the Event Horizon Telescope, and spectra without Compton effects. On the other hand, an emitter-to-observer Monte Carlo algorithm, by which photons are transported with a Monte Carlo method including the effects of Compton/inverse-Compton scatterings, enables us to compute multiwavelength spectra, with their energy bands broadly ranging from radio to very high energy gamma-ray. The X-ray black hole shadows, which are formed via synchrotron emission and inverse-Compton scattering processes and will be observed in the future X-ray interferometry missions, can be also computed with this algorithm. The code is generally applicable to accretion flows around Kerr black holes with relativistic jets and winds/coronae with various mass accretion rates (i.e., radiatively inefficient accretion flows, super-Eddington accretion flows, and others). We demonstrate an application of the code to a radiatively inefficient accretion flow onto a supermassive black hole.

The properties of wind and jet from a super-Eddington accretion flow around a supermassive black hole

ABSTRACT Wind and jet are important medium of active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback thus it is crucial to obtain their properties for the feedback study. In this paper we investigate the properties of wind and jet launched from a magnetized super-Eddington accretion flow around a supermassive black hole. For this aim, we have performed radiation magnetohydrodynamical simulation of a magnetically arrested super-Eddington accretion flows. We then have analysed the simulation data by the ‘virtual particle trajectory’ approach and obtained the mass flux, poloidal, and toroidal velocities, and mass-flux-weighted momentum and energy fluxes of wind and jet. The mass flux is found to be two to six times higher than that obtained based on the time-averaged streamline method widely used in literature. The momentum flux of wind is found to be larger than that of jet, while the total energy flux of jet is at most three times larger than that of wind. These results are similar to the case of hot accretion flows and imply that winds likely play a more important role than jet in AGN feedback. The acceleration mechanism of wind and jet is analysed and found to be dominated by Lorentz force rather than radiation force.

Radio emission of tidal disruption events from wind–cloud interaction

ABSTRACTWinds can be launched in tidal disruption event (TDE). It has been proposed that the winds can interact with the cloud surrounding the black hole, produce bow shocks, accelerate electrons, and produce radio emission. We restudy the wind–cloud interaction model. We employ the properties of winds found by the radiation hydrodynamic simulations of super-Eddington circularized accretion flow in TDEs. We can calculate the peak radio emission frequency, the luminosity at the peak frequency, and their time-evolution based on the TDEs wind–cloud interaction model. We find that the model predicted peak radio emission frequency, the luminosity at peak frequency, and their time evolution can be well consistent with those in TDEs AT2019dsg and ASASSN-14li. This indicates that in these two radio TDEs, the wind–cloud interaction mechanism may be responsible for the radio emission.

Jets from SANE super-Eddington accretion discs: morphology, spectra, and their potential as targets for ngEHT

ABSTRACT We present general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamics (GRRMHD) simulations of super-Eddington accretion flows around supermassive black holes (SMBHs), which may apply to tidal disruption events (TDEs). We perform long duration ($t\ge 81,200\, GM/c^3$) simulations that achieve mass accretion rates ≳11 times the Eddington rate and produce thermal synchrotron spectra and images of their jets. Gas flowing beyond the funnel wall expands conically and drives a strong shock at the jet head while variable mass ejection and recollimation, along the jet axis, results in internal shocks and dissipation. Assuming the ion temperature (Ti) and electron temperature (Te) in the plasma are identical, the radio/submillimetre spectra peak at >100 GHz and the luminosity increases with BH spin, exceeding $\sim 10^{41} \, \rm {erg\, s^{-1}}$ in the brightest models. The emission is extremely sensitive to Ti/Te as some models show an order-of-magnitude decrease in the peak frequency and up to four orders-of-magnitude decline in their radio/submillimetre luminosity as Ti/Te approaches 20. Assuming a maximum VLBI baseline distance of 10 Gλ, 230 GHz images of Ti/Te = 1 models shows that the jet head may be bright enough for its motion to be captured with the EHT (ngEHT) at D ≲ 110 (180) Mpc at the 5σ significance level. Resolving emission from internal shocks requires D ≲ 45 Mpc for both the EHT or ngEHT.

Modeling Reconstructed Images of Jets Launched by SANE Super-Eddington Accretion Flows around SMBHs with the ngEHT

Tidal disruption events (TDEs) around supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are a potential laboratory to study super-Eddington accretion disks and sometimes result in powerful jets or outflows which may shine in the radio and sub-millimeter bands. In this work, we modeled the thermal synchrotron emission of jets by general relativistic radiation magneto-hydrodynamics (GRRMHD) simulations of a BH accretion disk/jet system which assumed the TDE resulted in a magnetized accretion disk around a BH accreting at ∼12–25 times the Eddington accretion rate. Through synthetic observations with the Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT) and an image reconstruction analysis, we demonstrate that TDE jets may provide compelling targets within the context of the models explored in this work. In particular, we found that jets launched by a SANE super-Eddington disk around a spin a*=0.9 reach the ngEHT detection threshold at large distances (up to 100 Mpc in this work). A two-temperature plasma in the jet or weaker jets, such as a spin a*=0 model, requires a much closer distance, as we demonstrate detection at 10 Mpc for limiting cases of a*=0,R=1 or a*=0.9,R=20. We also demonstrate that TDE jets may appear as superluminal sources if the BH is rapidly rotating and the jet is viewed nearly face on.

Large-scale outflow structure and radiation properties of super-Eddington flow: Dependence on the accretion rates

Abstract In order to evaluate the impacts made by super-Eddington accretors on their environments precisely, it is essential to guarantee a large enough simulation box and long computational time to avoid any artefacts from numerical settings as much as possible. In this paper, we carry out axisymmetric two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic simulations around a 10 M⊙ black hole in large simulation boxes and study the large-scale outflow structure and radiation properties of super-Eddington accretion flow for a variety of black hole accretion rates, ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH} = (110\!-\!380)L_{\rm Edd}/c^{\,\,2}$ (with LEdd being the Eddington luminosity and c being the speed of light). The Keplerian radius of the inflow material, at which centrifugal force balances with gravitational force, is fixed to 2430 Schwarzschild radii. We find that the mechanical luminosity grows more rapidly than the radiation luminosity with an increase of ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH}$. When seen from a nearly face-on direction, especially, the isotropic mechanical luminosity grows in proportion to ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH}^{\,\,2.7}$, while the total mechanical luminosity is proportional to ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH}^{\,\,1.7}$. The reason for the former is that the higher ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH}$ is, the more vertically inflated the disk surface becomes, which makes radiation fields more confined in the region around the rotation axis, thereby strongly accelerating outflowing gas. The outflow is classified into pure outflow and failed outflow, depending on whether the outflowing gas can reach the outer boundary of the simulation box or not. The fraction of the failed outflow decreases with a decrease of ${\dot{M}}_{\,\,\rm BH}$. We analyze physical quantities along each outflow trajectory, finding that the Bernoulli parameter (Be) is not a good indicator to discriminate between pure and failed outflows, since it is never constant because of continuous acceleration by radiation-pressure force. Pure outflow can arise, even if Be < 0 at the launching point.

Radiative hydrodynamical simulations of super-Eddington accretion flow in tidal disruption event: the origin of optical/UV emission

ABSTRACT One of the most prominent problems of optical/ultraviolet (UV) tidal disruption events (TDEs) is the origin of their optical/UV emission. It has been proposed that the soft X-rays produced by the stellar debris accretion disc can be reprocessed into optical/UV photons by a surrounding optically thick envelope or outflow. However, there is still no detailed models for this mechanism. In this paper, by performing hydrodynamic simulations with radiative transfer, we calculate the optical/UV emission of the circularized stellar debris accretion flow/outflow system. We find that the optical/UV photons can be generated by reprocessing the emission of the accretion flow in the optically thick outflows. The model can well interpret the observed emission properties of optical/UV TDEs, including the emission radius, the radiation temperature, and the blackbody luminosity, as well as the evolution of these quantities with time, providing a strong theoretical basis for understanding the origin of optical/UV TDEs.

Evolution of a Relativistic Outflow and X-Ray Corona in the Extreme Changing-look AGN 1ES 1927+654

1ES 1927+654 is a paradigm-defying active galactic nucleus (AGN) and one of the most peculiar X-ray nuclear transients. In early 2018, this well-known AGN underwent a changing-look event, in which broad optical emission lines appeared and the optical flux increased. Yet, by 2018 July, the X-ray flux had dropped by over two orders of magnitude, indicating a dramatic change in the inner accretion flow. With three years of observations with NICER, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR, we present the X-ray evolution of 1ES 1927+654, which can be broken down into three phases: (1) an early super-Eddington phase with rapid variability in X-ray luminosity and spectral parameters, (2) a stable super-Eddington phase at the peak X-ray luminosity, and (3) a steady decline back to the pre-outburst luminosity and spectral parameters. For the first time, we witnessed the formation of the X-ray corona, as the X-ray spectrum transitioned from thermally dominated to primarily Comptonized. We also track the evolution of the prominent, broad 1 keV feature in the early X-ray spectra and show that this feature can be modeled with blueshifted reflection (z = −0.33) from a single-temperature blackbody irradiating spectrum using xillverTDE, a new flavor of the xillver models. Thus, we propose that the 1 keV feature could arise from reflected emission off the base of an optically thick outflow from a geometrically thick, super-Eddington inner accretion flow, connecting the inner accretion flow with outflows launched during extreme accretion events (e.g., tidal disruption events). Lastly, we compare 1ES 1927+654 to other nuclear transients and discuss applications of xillverTDE to super-Eddington accretors.

Thermal Equilibrium Solutions of Black Hole Accretion Flows: Outflows versus Advection

Observations and numerical simulations have shown that outflows generally exist in the accretion process. We revisit the thermal equilibrium solutions of black hole accretion flows by including the role of outflows. Our study focuses on the comparison of the cooling rate of outflows with that of advection. Our results show that, except for the inner region, outflows can dominate over advection in a wide range of flows, which is in good agreement with previous numerical simulations. We argue that an advection-dominated inner region together with an outflow-dominated outer region should be a general radial distribution for both super-Eddington accretion flows and optically thin flows with low accretion rates.

Relativistic X-Ray Reverberation from Super-Eddington Accretion Flow

Abstract X-ray reverberation is a powerful technique that uses the echoes of the coronal emission reflected by a black hole (BH) accretion disk to map out the inner disk structure. While the theory of X-ray reverberation has been developed almost exclusively for standard thin disks, reverberation lags have recently been observed from likely super-Eddington accretion sources such as the jetted tidal disruption event Swift J1644+57. In this paper, we extend X-ray reverberation studies into the regime of super-Eddington accretion with a focus on investigating the lags in the fluorescent Fe Kα line region. We find that the coronal photons are mostly reflected by the fast and optically thick winds launched from the super-Eddington accretion flow, and this funnel-like reflection geometry produces lag–frequency and lag–energy spectra with unique observable characteristics. The lag–frequency spectrum exhibits a step-function-like decline near the first zero-crossing point. As a result, the magnitude of the lag scales linearly with the BH mass for a large parameter space, and the shape of the lag–energy spectrum remains almost independent of the choice of frequency bands. Not only can these features be used to distinguish super-Eddington accretion systems from sub-Eddington systems, but they are also key for constraining the reflection geometry and extracting parameters from the observed lags. When fitting the observed reverberation lag of Swift J1644+57 to our modeling, we find that the super-Eddington disk geometry is slightly preferred over the thin disk geometry, and we obtain a BH mass of 5–6 × 106 M ☉ and a coronal height around 10 Rg .

The broad emission line asymmetry in a low mass ratio of supermassive binary black holes on elliptical orbits

AbstractWe investigate the broad line profiles emitted from a system supermassive binary black hole (SMBBH) having elliptical orbits and a low mass ratio of . Our model assumes a super Eddington accretion flow in the case of a smaller component, whereas the massive component has very small or negligible accretion, therefore supposing that no broad‐line region (BLR) is attached to it. Thus, the proposed SMBBH system contains one moving BLR, associated with the less massive component and one circum‐binary BLR. We study the effect of the different total mass of the system (ranging from 106 to 108 Solar masses) on the line profiles and to the continuum and line light curves. The resulted broad line profiles are asymmetric and shifted, and are varying during the orbital period. The asymmetry in the broad line profiles is discussed in terms of expected differences between the proposed model of the SMBBH with one active component and the scenario of a recoiling black hole. We discuss the periodicity detected in the line and continuum light curves, as well as in the variations of the line asymmetry and shift.

Spectral state transitions in Circinus ULX5

Context. We performed timing and spectral analyses of multi-epoch Suzaku, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) Circinus ULX5 with the aim of putting constraints on the mass of the central object and the accretion mode operating in this source. Aims. We investigate whether the source contains a stellar mass black hole (BH) with a super-Eddington accretion flow or an intermediate mass black hole accreting matter in a sub-Eddington mode. Moreover, we search for major observed changes in spectra and timing and determine whether they are associated with major structural changes in the disk, similarly to those in black hole X-ray binaries. Methods. We collected all available broadband data from 2001 to 2018 including Suzaku, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR. We a performed timing and spectral analyses to study the relation between luminosity and inner disk temperature. We proceeded with time-averaged spectral analysis using phenomenological models of different accretion modes. Finally, we constructed the hardness ratio versus intensity diagram to reveal spectral state transitions in Circinus ULX5. Results. Our spectral analysis revealed at least three distinctive spectral states of Circinus ULX5 that are analagous to state transitions in Galactic black hole X-ray binaries. Disk-dominated spectra are found in high flux states and the power-law dominated spectra are found in lower flux states. The source was also observed in an intermediate state, where the flux was low, but the spectrum is dominated by a disk component. Over eighteen years of collected data, ULX5 appeared two times in the high, three times in the low, and two times in the intermediate state. The fastest observed transition was ∼seven months. Conclusions. Our analysis suggests that the central object in Circinus ULX5 is a stellar mass BH (< 10 M⊙) or, possibly, a neutron star (NS) despite there being no detection of pulsations in the light curves. The fractional variability amplitudes are consistent with state transitions in Circinus ULX5, wherein higher variability from the power law-like Comptonized emission becomes suppressed in the thermal disk-dominated state.

Variability of Comptonized X-ray spectra of a super-Eddington accretor: Approach using Boltzmann radiation transport

Abstract We investigate the radiation fields around super-Eddington accretion flow, in which multiple inverse-Compton scattering plays a principal role, by using newly developed code describing Boltzmann radiation transfer in the Schwarzschild space-time. We apply this code to post-processing spectral calculations based on general relativistic, radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulation data to obtain X-ray spectra seen from various viewing angles. The radiation fields are distinctively separated into a funnel region with an opening angle of ∼30°, which is full with hot (gas temperature of T > 108 K), tenuous, and high-velocity plasmas, and surrounding cooler (T ∼ 107 K) and optically thick outflow regions. Accordingly, there is a clear tendency that the smaller the viewing angle, the harder the spectra. In particular, hard photons with several tens of keV are observable only by observers at viewing angles less than ∼30°, consistent with past spectral studies based on simulations. Further, we investigate how the spectra are varied by a flare occurring in the innermost region, finding that the variation amplitude grows as the photon energy increases and that the harder photons emerge more quickly than softer photons. The observational implications on long-term spectral variability of ultra-luminous X-ray sources are briefly discussed.

What determines the unique spectra of super-Eddington accretors? Origin of optically thick and low-temperature coronae in super-Eddington accretion flows

Abstract The existence of relatively cool (kBT ≲ 10 keV) and optically thick (τ ≳ 3) coronae are inferred above super-Eddington accretion flow such as ultraluminous X-ray sources, GRS 1915+105, and narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies, which contrasts with cases in sub-Eddington accretion flows, which are associated with coronae with kBT ∼ 100 keV and τ ∼ 1. To understand their physical origin, we investigate the emission properties of the corona which is formed by the gas blown off the super-Eddington inner disk by radiation pressure. We assume that the corona is heated by the reconnection of magnetic loops emerging from the underlying disk. We show that this radiation-pressure-driven wind can act as an optically thick corona which upscatters thermal soft photons from the underlying disk, and that with a reasonable parameter set we can theoretically reproduce the coronal optical depth and temperature which are inferred by spectral fittings of observational data. By contrast, the coronal optical depth cannot be so high in sub-Eddington cases, since the coronal material is supplied from the disk via evaporation and there is a maximum limit on the evaporation rate. We suggest that low-temperature, optically thick Comptonization should be a key signature of super-Eddington accretion flow.